Spanish club FC Barcelona announces the departure of the Argentine legend Lionel Messi from the club after 21 years.
Lionel Messi made his debut with FC Barcelona back in 2003 and scored a whopping 672 goals and 305 assists only in 778 games. Messi is regarded as the greatest player of all time by many across the world.
The announcement came after FC Barcelona failed to keep the financial regulations of the La Liga in check and Messi’s contract could not be extended due to the financial rules of the Spanish league.
Following the salary of many players at the club exceeding the cap set by La Liga, FC Barcelona are unable to register their new players ahead of the 2021/22 season.
FC Barcelona stated that “Leo Messi not staying at FC Barcelona. Despite the club and player reaching an agreement and their clear intention to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles. As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.”
It’s reported that Messi wanted to stay at the club, the contract extension was almost done, but with the financial regulations of La Liga, the contract extension will not be possible and Messi will become a free agent.
PSG are one of the many clubs that are after the signing of Messi but given at the current time, Messi has not initiated a conversation with any club in Europe.
FC Barcelona is €1,173 million in debt and is also exceeding the salary cap of La Liga. Messi, however, decided to take a 50% salary cut, even that was not enough considering the huge wage of the legendary player.